Jung Jeong-sik Urges Kim Min-seok to Decide Whether to Pursue Impeachment of Chief Justice Jo Hee-de
According to Yonhap News, People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeong-sik urged Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok to quickly reach a decision on whether to pursue the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and to take serious responsibility for his remarks. Speaking at a press briefing on key National Assembly audit issues held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on October 18, floor leader Jung criticized, "With the leader of the ruling party saying he will formally discuss impeaching the Chief Justice, the entire audit has become consumed by impeachment talks," adding, "This goes beyond a politically charged audit — an impeachment-driven audit is being created."
Floor leader Jung suggested that the impeachment card is driven by an intent to reverse declining approval ratings. He diagnosed, "The government and ruling party's approval ratings have collapsed due to livelihood failures, diplomatic disarray, and a staffing fiasco." He went on to point out, "Leader Kim has pulled out the impeachment card to reconsolidate his support base amid a crisis of his own making," criticizing that "rather than overcoming the crisis through policy and competence, they intend to deploy impeachment as an emergency measure to turn around their approval ratings."
He emphasized, "The mere fact that the leader of the dominant ruling party has formally moved to pursue the Chief Justice's impeachment means the impact of his remarks is enormous — they carry a weight tantamount to actually tabling an impeachment motion." He added, "We will mobilize every means at our disposal to block the impeachment prosecution and the impeachment itself."
Floor leader Jung also stated his position on the transfer of wartime operational control. He said, "The transfer of wartime operational control should be judged by capability, not timing." Jung urged the government and ruling party to stop trying to force the transfer onto the president's term timeline and to reexamine the transfer schedule through sufficient consultations with the United States. He added, "Recklessly shouting emotional slogans and scheming to use it as an achievement within the term is extremely dangerous," noting that "this government's amateurish headlong rush must not jeopardize national security."
Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties remain at odds over whether to pursue the impeachment of Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and how to run the National Assembly audit. The People Power Party and the Democratic Party have each accused the other of turning the audit into a political battleground.
